Gustavia, St. Barts, outlying neighborhood

 Walking a few blocks from the harbor, the prosperity is less evident.

Gustavia Downtown

 The downtown of Gustavia, the capitol of St. Barts, is colorful and seemingly prosperous.

Gustavia Harbor

Gustavia, the capitol of St. Barthelemy (St. Barts) was the second stop on our Caribbean cruise. The harbor is lively.

Virgin Gorda Seascapes

A couple of photos of our ship, the Silver Whisper, flanked by the tender on which we went ashore. Plus folded umbrellas on the upper deck, some beautiful scenery, and hypnotic patterns in the water near the ship.

Virgin Gorda Scenery

The next morning, sunlight fell on truly beautiful Virgin Gorda scenery. The ruins along the coast are of abandoned tin mines, worked by Cornish miners. The Cornwall coast has similar ruins.

 

Evening in Virgin Gorda

The first island stop on our Caribbean cruise was Virgin Gorda. We arrived in the evening, when the skies were dramatic. A couple of details in the darkening light also caught my interest.

Evening Colors

In the evening, just as we were about to embark, I took some photos of the bright colors of the Pool Deck swimming pool and the pilot boat alongside the Silver Whisper. 

Silver Whisper Interiors

Having been been checked onto the ship and shown to our staterooms, we gathered in small groups in the Show Lounge for instructions about the mandatory lifeboat drill. We then assembled on the Pool Deck for information and entertainment from the staff - a talented bunch.

Silver Whisper in the Port of San Juan

On the morning of November 17, we moved from our hotel to the Port of San Juan, where we boarded our ship, the Silver Whisper. Looking past the ship, in the distance we saw the airport and a couple of the huge cranes that load and unload containers in the port.

Santurce Murals (3)

 The third and final sampling of murals from the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Santurce Murals (2)

 A second selection of murals, from a different section of the Santurce neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Santurce Murals

On November 15 we flew from Portland, Oregon to San Juan, Puerto Rico to embark on a two-week cruise among the Caribbean islands. Our ship embarked on November 17, so we had November 16 to explore San Juan. We tend to regard murals as a significant contemporary art form, and the Santurce neighborhood in San Juan was said to have a large collection of street art, so we decided to make that our destination. Indeed, Santurce has many fine murals, of which I'll be able to show only a modest selection over the next three postings of this blog.

The first image is not a mural at all, but rather a segment of the view of insulated pipes on the roof of our hotel, as seen from our room. Every bit as surreal as the painted images.